Political Correctness v Old School Teaching

http://freedomedium.com/2009/10/we-need-politically-correct-classrooms/

I think this post represents many things that I personally struggle with on a daily basis when it comes to working with children. I can just imagine the sarcasm in this writer's mind as they wrote this, because some of these issues seem so ridiculous but are real issues that teachers are faced with every day. When is it ok to drop the political correctness and just be the person we are, or is it better to think twice before we let any words come out of our mouths? The issues discussed in this article really made me think about the kind of teacher I want to be, compared to the kind of teacher I might have to be. When I think back to elementary school, I have very fond memories of my teachers, librarians, janitors, and other faculty/staff. I remember sitting in my kindergarten teacher's lap on occasion for story time, getting hugs when I fell off the the play equipment, and the librarian letting me stash myself away next to a bookshelf during recess so I could see what mystery the Boxcar Children were going to solve this time. Now, we're not supposed to hug the kids or have them sit on our laps because they could "interpret it as a different meaning" and we can be sued for assault. I also know many schools have a policy that a student cannot be alone with a single staff member, so being the only student alone in with the librarian would never fly.

I think in order to be a successful teacher, I'm going to have to look at my students differently than I look at other children. My job right now is beinga full-time nanny for two 6-year olds and a 4-year old, and I also babysit for other families around the Lansing area. I hug these children, they sit on my lap to read stories, and when they hurt themselves I put bandaids/ice where they say it hurts....for me not to be able to show my students the same compassion is going to be very difficult. I know that school rules are going to be very strict, and the desire to keep my job and good reputation will outweigh my wanting to give my students hugs when they need one...but it will still be hard.

I want to become the teachers I had; the ones who taught me to think outside the box, to not judge a book by its cover, to memorize my "times tables" by marching and chanting down the hallway. Those things I can be, but I know I won't be able to be my kindergarten teacher who let me sit on her lap when we read Madeline, or my librarian who hugged me every year on the birthday we shared, or my science teacher who held my hand when we were allowed to pet a snake at the zoo but I was too scared to walk up alone.

I don't really have the experience to say which is better; that the no-touching policies won't prevent any innapropriate contact, or that every student should be hugged...those don't seem right either...but I think it's going to be hard to not have any options on what a student/teacher relationship can be. I wish I could be the teachers I had in almost every aspect, but it looks like today's rules and regulations are going to delegate what kind of teacher I have to be.